Ho Chi Minh City is the fascinating largest city in Vietnam. Formerly called Saigon when it was the capital of South Vietnam, the city still goes by that name to many of its inhabitants and you’ll certainly hear the centre of the city referred to as Saigon.More

It’s a complete contrast to many of the country’s other big cities in being a kind of living memorial to the Vietnam War and everywhere you’ll find reminders; be it memorials on street corners or bits of discarded military hardware also used as reminders of the past.

Must see sights for the visitor include the Museum of Vietnamese History; not the most spectacular of museums, but the best place to start so that you can gain an understanding into the post 60s country.

From there, head to the ‘main attraction’; the Reunification Palace, formerly the presidential palace of South Vietnam, it is reputedly left as it was when the tank that’s on display outside crashed through the gate and ended the war. There are certainly plenty of things to marvel at; whole offices left as they were that day and the presidential home with its very 70s circular sofa and furniture.

The War Remnants Museum tells the real story of the incredible cruelty of the war; from tiger cages to deformed foetuses damaged by the American use of chemical weapons, it’s a sickening reminder of the horrors inflicted by humans on each other.